Nba Super Scout Knows Talent When He Sees It

PORTSMOUTH — If you saw Marty Blake walking down the street one day, you would hardly be impressed. You probably would figure him for a hardware store owner. Or a substitute school teacher.

Anything but one of the most influential people in professional sports.

But that he is. Blake, the director of scouting for the National Basketball Association, knows talent. It's his livelihood.

In some cases, a kid's future rests in Blake's hands, which he is reluctant to accept or even admit. His word is considered gold. But why?

"He's been at it a long time and he's very good at it," said Al Bianchi, the general manager and vice president of the New York Knicks. "He's done a great job for the league with the talent he's directed our way over the years. He always has a handle on it."

"He's the front man for the NBA," said Dick Van Arsdale, the vice president of the Phoenix Suns. "He's done more for scouting than anybody. He's a big reason for the talent in the NBA."

"One of his original biggest assets was telling you who not to see," Boston Celtics President Red Auerbach said. "That saved trips. I'm glad he's getting the recognition now he's deserved for so long."

In 1977, after the NBA and the American Basketball Association merged, Blake was named the league's director of scouting. It was vastly different from what he was used to - scouting for one team. Now, he was scouting for the entire league.

His office in Atlanta provides material for all NBA teams on Division I players, and Blake grades each position every two weeks. "I showcase the players," Blake said. "If there is any player in the world who can play, we know about him."

He also is involved in many postseason tournaments and camps - such as the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament, for which he is in town.

How influential is he? Consider Scottie Pippen and Dan Majerle, two recent participants in the PIT. Nobody had heard of them - nobody but Blake. They were invited to the PIT, had outstanding tournaments, and were first-round NBA draft picks.

His opinions are educated, and here are some of them:

On the upcoming NBA draft: "I think the first four or five players in the draft, not in order, will be Danny Ferry, (Pervis) Ellison, Glen Rice, (Stacey) King and Sean Elliott. I don't know who will go first. If I was picking, I'd take Danny Ferry."

On the decision by Indiana sophomore Jay Edwards to turn pro two years early: "I don't think he's ready, but what is ready? I think it's a bad move on his part, but we don't know all the circumstances. There could be academic problems."

On the decision by Virginia Tech junior Bimbo Coles not to try the draft a year early: "He's more advanced than Jay Edwards. But Bimbo made the right move."

According to most of the NBA scouts you talk to, Blake has revolutionized scouting. No longer are the days when coaches depend on newspapers and magazines.

"It used to be that scouting was not organized," Utah Jazz President Frank Layden said. "He brought it into the 20th century. He made us get organized in spite of ourselves."

"Marty not only works hard at it, he likes it," Auerbach said. "And that's important."

Important enough to keep him going from state to state and country to country looking for talented basketball players.

"How many people get up every morning and go to a job they love?" Blake said. "My office is in Atlanta, the NBA is in New York. If I want to go to China, I go to China.

"When you look at a player, you have to look at so many things. And you've got to do it automatically. I've been doing it so long, it's second nature."